As the warm summer sun beats down on the streets of Washington, D.C., I’ve been wondering more and more about why people jog all the time, when they could instead be relaxing in a hammock under a tree with a nice cool glass of lemonade in hand. And recently my work friends and I have […]
Month: August 2010
Wisdom and Beauty in Rest
I’ve been a tad bit sick this past week, so have done my share of lounging on the couch and bed with my sweet dog curled up next to me. Although I am back at work now, I’ve still got resting on my mind. Professor B. G. Jefferis seems quite the expert on this topic; […]
Techniques for a Graceful Walk
I’ve been busy with a house guest and my new pup lately. Not only was she perfect company, dear friend Michelle arrived on my doorstep with books in hand. We also made a trip to a used bookstore last weekend, where I found another eight for the collection. One of them is Ruth Tolman’s Charm and […]
Be Yourself
Q Dear Miss Abigail: I am seventeen and a girl. Unfortunately for me, so is my extremely pretty best friend. I’m a cute girl, but nowhere near Jen. All the guys fawn over her and I can’t help but feel inferior to her good looks. I know that I should flaunt what I have, but […]
How to Light a Cigarette
Q Dear Miss Abigail: What is the proper etiquette for lighting someone else’s cigarette? A friend of mine said if you’re using a lighter you light their’s first and your’s next, but if you’re using matches you light your’s first because of the sulfury taste of matches. I though you always light their’s first, but […]
Mermaidiana
I’m just back from a weekend trip to Nags Head, N.C., where I picked up some more books at a favorite shop on the Outer Banks. I also tested out a few of the tips listed here, from John Robert Powers and Mary Sue Miller’s Secrets of Charm. Well, ok, I didn’t really try these, but […]
Daintiness
So much can be learned from the dedications of books. I quote Mr. Lelord Kordel, author of this selection (from Lady, Be Loved): I do not believe that the American woman is as desirable as she can be, although I will grant that she excels the women of other nations in almost all points of outward attractiveness. […]
Personality Counts More Than Appearance
This selection is from Eighteen: The Art of Being a Woman. It was written by Catherine Atkinson Miller. My copy is a discarded library book, and had the checkout card in the back of the book. In case you were wondering, it was borrowed by “McKellar” on 10/15/35 “to keep indefinitely – OK’d by Mr. D,” […]
A Sunny Disposition
“This little book is born of a desire to help and encourage our girls who are struggling with the problems that come up in teens,” Mabel Hale writes in the foreword to Beautiful Girlhood. “Youth has its problems, its heartaches, and disappointments. It is not always a smooth path to the perfection of womanhood.” Ya got […]
She Smells Worse Than Wet Mulch!
Q Dear Miss Abigail: I have a co-worker who smells worse than wet mulch. It’s not that she looks dirty, or dresses in dirty clothing or even has a trace of filth on her person. No, it’s just that there seems to be an invisible cloud of BO floating where ever she roams. Before I […]